W. Germany Denies It is Willing to Act As Mediator Between U.s., Egypt

Reports that West Germany might be willing to serve as a mediator to bring about improved relations between Egypt and the United States were denied yesterday by a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The reports appeared following a meeting in Munich Monday between Chancellor Willy Brandt and Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, editor of the influential Cairo daily A1 Ahram. A Ministry spokesman said there was no need for West German mediation because the US and Egypt have diplomatic channels of their own.

The Beirut newspaper. An Nahar, quoted Arab diplomatic sources in Bonn yesterday as saying that the West German role is to prepare better relation between Washington and Cairo “now that the atmosphere has improved after the withdrawal of Soviet experts from Egypt.”

Government spokesmen refused to comment on the substance of the talks between Chancellor Brandt and Heikal. A meeting between the two last year is believed to have played a part in the restoration of diplomatic relations between West Germany and Egypt.

The Egyptian editor also met yesterday with the West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel. Scheel has accepted an official invitation to visit Lebanon. No date has been set. The Foreign Minister is due to meet with Lebanese Foreign Minister Chalid Abu Hamad in Sept. when they will attend the opening of the UN General Assembly’s fall session in New York.